Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great Essay Alexander was born in July 356 B.C. to Philip II and his third wife, Olympias. The parents were far from a happy couple, and Alexander was raised primarily under the influence of his mother. At the age of thirteen, he was sent to study with Aristotlean education that was for the most part formal. Aristotle promoted the belief that non-Greeks were naturally slaves, thus encouraging the princes thirst for conquest. Ultimately, however, Alexander would reject this belief, at least implicitly, as he attempted to cooperate with the Persians even as he subjugated them. Returning to Macedonia after three years, Alexander soon had the opportunity to prove his strength in battle, as he subdued rebellions and contributed to his fathers famous victory over Athens and Thebes at Chaeronea. But when Philip divorced Olympias and married Cleopatra, Alexander began to fear that his father was looking for a new heir, and the father and son had a falling out. Their dispute was shortly resolved, but both remained suspicious of the other. Indeed, Philip was soon assassinated by a guard who presumably had a personal grievance, though Alexander and his mother are traditionally thought to have played some kind of role in Philips death. Alexander thus succeeded to the throne and began the inevitable dynastic purging of enemies. At the same time, he had to force the other Greek city-states to acknowledge his authority as Hegemon of the Hellenic League, which Philip had established. In doing so, Alexander razed the city of Thebes as an examplethough many sympathized w ith Thebes and only grew to resent Alexander more deeply. But Alexander had more important concernsnamely, the Persian expedition. This had been Philips dream and Alexanders inheritance, and he wasted no time in beginning. Alexander advanced gradually and conquered territory by territory until Darius, the Great King of Persia, was forced to come out himself to face Alexander. Alexander was victorious in the two key battles at Issus and Gaugamela, and Darius was murdered by conspirators soon afterward. In the meantime, Alexander also conquered Phoenicia, Egypt, and Babylon, all of which proved to be valuable acquisitions. Upon hearing of Dariuss death, the Macedonian army assumed that the expedition was over and the war won, but Alexander insisted on pushing farther east. Here he faced a formidable opponent in Spitamenes, who possessed a smaller army but continued harassing Alexander and even slaughtered a Macedonian unit after Alexander underestimated him. Spitamenes was ultimately defeated, the rebellion fell apart, and Alexander went on to conquer the Paraetacene territory. In the Far East, Alexander founded a large number of cities that would contribute to the expansion of Greek culture. Finally there remained India (which at the time referred to a small area in western Pakistan, not the country of modern times). Although Alexander was already the undisputed king of Asia, he would not be satisfied until he had personally vanquished the entire continent. He soon allied himself with one ruler, Ambhi, but there remained Ambhis enemy Porus. The result was one of Alexanders greatest military achievements, but the battle was difficult, particularly because the Macedonian army had had to face a frightful experience in fighting elephants. After India, Alexander wanted to press still farther, recognizing that Asia extended beyond what he may have expected from limited geographical knowledge. At this point, however, his troops finally refused to further, and mutinous thoughts stirred after eight hard years of combat and marching. Alexander was furious, but he was eventually forced to give in and return home. Back in Persia Alexander dealt with administrative matters, including the replacement of various satraps, or local rulers. More important, his experience of Asia had changed his attitude toward Persians. His desire to cooperate with the Persians alienated many conservative Macedonians, who still viewed Persians as barbarians. Alexanders new attitude may even have led to his death in 323 B.C. READ: Human face portrait Essay Though the official cause of his death was a fever aggravated by heavy drinking, many historians have speculated that Alexander was poisoned by Aristotle, his former tutor, and Antipater, his close advisor, as a result of his favorable treatment of the barbarians. .

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Resume and cover letter - Assignment Example As such, I am particularly interested in the practical application of science. This is because, through science and engineering, I can be able to develop a logical approach to determinations of various mechanical problems. Moreover, engineering provides me with the opportunity to apply various theories and techniques that can be used to tackle and provide solutions to mechanical problems. Moreover, the fact that I am always excessively fascinated with the functioning of machines has also made develop the interest of practicing mechanical engineering. In fact, during my younger years, I usually dismantled my toys with the aim of learning how the machines functioned and integrated. Quite surprisingly, I found out that changing various aspects of the machines such as motor transmission would alter or lead to a modification of how the toy operated. As I grew up, this interest developed even further and I thus started of working on relatively bigger machines such as my mountain bike and my father’s old broken motorcycle. I was intrigued by complexity of the integration and functioning of the several parts of the machinery. This made me develop an understanding of how machines works in terms of converting electrical, kinetic, or man power into movement. My choice to major in Mechanical Engineering was therefore facilitated by my liking of Maths and Physics as well a s an intense curiosity of knowing how the machines integrated and functioned. Career planning is an important factor that can enable an individual to attain success more so after the completion of the undergraduate degree. Essentially, CP 101 played a big role towards influencing me on opting to choose mechanical engineering as my career of choice. At school, due to my high performance and interest in maths and physics, many professors, including my calculus professor, recommended that I should consider becoming a maths tutor. I took this suggestion